Grove Racing demotes Triple Eight in Townsville pit lane order

The team’s form in the Top End, coupled with an uncharacteristic weekend for Triple Eight, meant it took the teams’ championship lead on Saturday.

Grove briefly held the teams’ championship lead midway through the Albert Park weekend in March but has not previously ended a round atop the table.

Triple Eight’s demotion comes after the first multi-race round since Taupo 2025 in which neither of its drivers scored a podium finish.

A team order blunder in the final race also meant Broc Feeney’s drivers’ championship lead over Matt Payne drop to just 15 points.

In contrast, podium finishes on all three days, including Kai Allen’s Saturday win, allowed Grove to leave Darwin with a 39-point lead in the teams’ standings.

Cam Waters’ return to form gave Tickford Racing a helpful boost in the standings, moving them to third spot.

A DNF for each of Walkinshaw TWG Racing’s drivers Ryan Wood and Chaz Mostert dropped the team to fourth in the points.

GM homologation squad Team 18 hit back at recent criticism by earning its second win of the season with Anton De Pasquale, however it remains fifth in the standings.

It capitalised on a difficult end to the weekend for Dick Johnson Racing, which included star driver Brodie Kostecki withdrawing from the weekend.

DJR held onto sixth in the standings, however the gap widened slightly in Team 18’s favour.

Brad Jones Racing’s primary entries (#8 and #14) moved up to seventh in the points, leapfrogging the Blanchard Racing Team.

This has the added benefit of also moving Macauley Jones and Jackson Walls one further spot up the pit lane as the four cars are grouped together.

Matt Stone Racing stays put in ninth, however the team is now just 50 points shy of BRT thanks to a solid showing from Jack Le Brocq.

PremiAir Racing sits in 10th, with Erebus Motorsport left to rue a horror weekend, remaining in the last pit garage for Townsville.

The Supercars Championship continues its northern adventure with the Townsville 500 on July 10-12.

Supercars teams’ championship standings after Round 6 (Darwin Triple Crown)

1. Grove Racing – 2486 (up one position)
2. Triple Eight – 2447 (down one)
3. Tickford Racing – 1880 (up one)
4. Walkinshaw TWG Racing – 1835 (down one)
5. Team 18 – 1775
6. Dick Johnson Racing – 1718
7. Brad Jones Racing (#8 & #14) – 1402 (up one)
8. Blanchard Racing Team – 1366 (down one)
9. Matt Stone Racing – 1316
10. PremiAir Racing – 1180
11. Erebus Motorsport – 745
12. Brad Jones Racing (#96) – 507
13. Objective Racing – 369